337 Info

Hello all!
I am a fledgling pilot and am enjoying my journey very much. Suprisingly, my wife is backing this adventure much more than I had ever dreamed and even is willing to discuss purchasing our own aircraft. I have always loved the skymaster and think that it would be a great aircraft to own. However, being relatively new to aviation I have a lot of questions and hoped that you could provide me with some answers.

#1 Is this a good cross-country aircraft???? (I know, dumb question :-})
#2 Is maintanence a major issue with this type of aircraft?
#3 For a begining pilot is it safe and easy to control.
Finally what is the best way to transition to this type??? I have been flying 152's and 172's during my training.

Thanks in advance for your help!
Drew

[WebMaster]

Drew, many of the people here have lots of time, but a couple, don hickman and myself, went straight in.
First, you must get your private pilot rating in a 172/152/etc, type aircraft. That's a because. The SEL (Single Engine Land) rating is the basic building block.
Once you get your license, you should, honestly, go out an fly some in the 172, because, as someone is fond of saying, the license is a license to learn. I would suggest another 20-30 hours of renting, as a minimum.
From there, you can do MEL. That's Multi Engine Land. There are several ways to do this. Don and I chose different paths. Don got an instructor, and flew his aircraft with an instructor, then did the checkride, ending up with Multi Engine, Center Line Thrust rating. I went to one of the ME schools, mills, I went to the one in Texas, and at the end of the week, I had my Multi Engine rating. Notice no restriction on Center Line Thrust. Not a big deal to me, unless someday I buy a twin engine jet (NOT LIKELY). The big difference is that it is difficult to find an FAA examiner who can do the ME checkride in the skymaster. Also, during the check ride, you are supposed to feather an engine, and re start it. Practicing all that places a lot of strain on the engine. I chose to do it in someone else's airplane. Also, the mills are flat fee, quick, accelerated study, don't worry about the plane in for oil change, etc, because they do the maintenance.
Once you are MEL rated, you can take the skymaster anywhere.
You asked, good cross country machine??
Well, one of the folks who is presenting at Nashville has flown to Europe. That's sort of cross COUNTRIES.
We did a fly-in in the bahamas last year, and my wife and I flew from Michigan to the Bahamas.
Chachi flew his from Panama to the Bahamas. Don regularly flies from Indiana to Cancun, Mexico.
There is a side bar, with a section called Articles. You can read some there.
Owning a plane, like the skymaster, gives you a 'freedom' to do things that you would not normally consider. My wife needed hip replacement surgery, and the local docs said, wait as long as you can, because it needs to be redone in 10-15 years. I found a doc in NYC, at Columbia, who was heading the clinical trials on a new process. I spoke to him on a Friday, he said I can see you next Thursday. We went to NYC the next thursday. It was Thursday, September 12, 2002.
Anyway, I have written a lot. There are others who will write more.

[Ernie Martin]

Let me add a bit to what Larry has said.

Range: Most 337s have long-range tanks with about 125 gal of fuel. A non-turbo model burns about 20 gal per hour with a ground speed of about 150 knots, so you can safely go about 5 hours or 750 nm.

Maintenance Costs: Comparable to other twins (which is still substantially greater than for a single-engine, fixed-gear aircraft). Key is to find a mechanic familiar with 337s.

Easy to Control: Arguably the easiest to control of all twins.

Summary: It seems to me it all boils down to one question: do you think you need a twin? If the terrain you fly over (mine is mostly over water) or your concerns about engine failure or other factors warrant having a twin, then I think a 337 is a superb choice. Most bang for the buck (337s are generally less expensive than other twins) and an easy-to-handle aircraft.

More Reading: An entire web page for prospective buyers of Skymasters exists at www.skymaster.org.uk/purchase.asp and covers most of what you have asked and more.

Ernie

[Jerry De Santis]

If your planning to buy a Skymaster now is the time to do it. It is a good safe twin that out performs a Sencia 5 and the word is spreading how good the aircraft really is. As a result, I believe you will see the cost of Skymasters increase at a faster rate than other twins.

I'm on my secod Skymaster. It is a 1975 P337G. Nothing like them in the world.

Jerry
N34EC

[OSCARDEUCE]

Go for it!
I have 120 hours in c-150 c-172 and PA-120. Transitioned the the O2-A (Military Skymaster) in 22 hours. Insurance still wants 30 hours total. Insurance may be your stumbling block being low time. I find it a joy to fly. I also think you should start in the 150/172 series. build up some time and get the ME rating. Mine is with a CLT limitation, but I did not have the extra $$$ at the time to own an aircraft and rent another.
Tom

[Frank Benvin]

We live in Canada.In 1982 My father at 52 years old had 50Hrs training on C-172's & Piper Cherokee's He finished off his licence and did his flight test in our 1967 337B. He is now 73 and still flying a skymaster. I have been flying in skymasters since I was 16, got my 337 endorsment at 21 and am now 40 and still flying them. I love them. Hopfully I will still be flying them at 73
They are so easy to fly!!!

I also had an engine failure on rotation Finished the circuit landed and walked away. Try that on a side by side

Buy one you won't be sorry

Frank

[Paul Sharp]

I think they are the best buy available. If money were no object I suppose there are other things I would consider. But I have deice, turbo (allows performance even in hot, high locations and pretty much makes density altitude a non-event), and two engines without asymmetrical controls problems either! I paid $41,000 for my aircraft. It had one engine run-out, but I knew that going in, and the most important thing was that the previous owners had kept the maintenance up. That is realy crucial to me. A long-time problem with Skymasters is that their value dropped considerably not long after they were new. So people could buy them cheap and neglected to understand (or face) the fact that it takes the same kind of maintenance money and effort to maintain a Skymaster as other comparable twins (Piper Seneca, for example, which uses same engines). So after buying cheaply they tried to maintain cheaply. And that is a problem. So if you end up buying one, make sure you've got one that has been maintained on a consistent basis and has all the ADs complied with, etc. And then count on paying the same kind of maintenance dollars as other middle-of-the-road twin owners.

[Don Hickman]

Since Larry so freely used my name in his reply, I thought I should at least weigh in with a few words. Been out of the country the last 3 weeks so am just now catching up on the board.

Unlike most everyone else that posts here, I was a very low-time pilot when I bought my P337 about a year and a half ago. Not only low-time, but it had been a LONG time since I had flown anything (about 20 years).

But I wanted a good cross-country (meaning cross-water) plane that I could handle. The 337 has proven to be perfect for me. I put about 250 hours on it my first year and I love it. I took all my multi and IFR training in it and while some of that was hard on the engines, they were high time and I knew I would replace them soon. I'm doing that now.

So, if you're looking for a twin that is a good cross-country (or cross-water!) machine, I would highly recommend the 337. (I fly across about 585 nautical miles of ocean from New Orleans to Cancun almost every month. The cross-country part is almost a non-event after that!)

Maintainence has been a bit high but I knew going in that I had a machine with runout engines so that expense hasn't been a surprise. Now that I've got a practically new plane, I'm looking forward to lots more flying.

Hope to see you all in Nashville!

[Dale Campbell]

Drew,
I have flown many differant aircraft since my father taught me to fly at age 9. He was a A&P in the 40's to 60's. We flew most every day back then. From the 1970 to 1986 I flew nothing, got married and could not afford to fly, you know how that is. I started my own business in 1982 and in 1986 purchased my first aircraft, a 1979 172 that only had 180 total hours on it. I flew 1100 hours in that until I traded up to 1978 337H in 2000. I put
200 hours on 337 and love that bird. I purchased the 337 for less than I sold the 172 for, but I put all that money plus a lot more to repaint, new interior, a lot of repairs and upgrades. I would do it all over again, because I love that 337. I have 150 gal. tanks and burn 22 gal per hour at 160 knots. This makes a great cross country aircraft. I purchased my aircraft in Sweden, and the previous owner flew it to the states. It took 25 total hours and they covered over 3800 miles. Each leg of trip was over 860 miles.
They said it was the best and enjoyable trip they flew, and had the safety of two engines over very cold waters. It is good you have the wifes support , that is very important. I do not have that same support. My wife goes up once a year, and hates it.
Good luck, and fly safe. Dale Campbell